View source for Hymir

{{short description|Norse mythical character}}
{{distinguish|Ymir}}
[[Image:Ed0013.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Hymir, Thor and Jörmungandr. An illustration from Nils Fredrik Sander's 1893 Swedish edition of the ''[[Poetic Edda]]''.]]
[[File:Gosforth fishing.jpg|thumb|upright|Hymir and Thor on the [[Gosforth Cross]]]]
'''Hymir''' ([[Old Norse]]: /ˈhymɪɹ̝/) is a [[jötunn]] in [[Norse mythology]], and the owner of a brewing-cauldron fetched by the [[Weather god|thunder-god]] [[Thor]] for [[Ægir]], who wants to hold a feast for the [[Æsir]] (gods). In ''[[Hymiskviða]]'', Hymir is portrayed as the father of [[Týr]], but in ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'', [[Odin]] is Týr's father.

== Name ==
The [[etymology]] of the [[Old Norse]] name ''Hymir'' remains unclear.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=190}} It is perhaps related to the [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] ''humen'' ('limp, weary') or ''humre'' ('whinny'; compare with [[Middle High German|MHG]] ''hummen'' 'hum').{{Sfn|de Vries|1962|p=275}} [[Andy Orchard]] has proposed the translation 'creeper'.{{Sfn|Orchard|1997|p=192}}

''Hymir'' is often used in [[Kenning|kennings]] as a modifier for ''jötnarr''.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|p=190}}

== Attestations ==
===''Hymiskviða'' and ''Gylfaginning''===
''[[Hymiskviða]]'' recounts how Thor and Týr obtain the cauldron from Hymir. His skull is unusually hard, and Thor breaks a cup by throwing it at Hymir's head.

''Hymiskviða'' also recounts Thor's fishing for [[Jörmungandr]], the Midgard serpent.<ref name="Davidson">{{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Hilda Ellis |author-link=Hilda Ellis Davidson |title=The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe |publisher=Routledge |year=1993 |pages=50–53 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sWLVZN0H224C  |isbn=0-203-40850-0}}</ref> Thor goes fishing with Hymir, using the head of Hymir's best ox for bait, and catches Jörmungandr, who then either breaks loose<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bellows |first1=Henry Adams (transl.) |author1-link=Henry Adams Bellows (businessman) |contribution=Hymiskviða |title=The Poetic Edda |year=1936 |pages=144–147 |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe09.htm  }}</ref> or, as told in the ''[[Gylfaginning]]'' of the ''[[Prose Edda]]'', is cut loose by Hymir.<ref name="Gylfaginning">{{Cite book |author1=Snorri Sturluson |author-link=Snorri Sturluson |last2=Brodeur |first2=Arthur Gilchrist (transl.) |author2-link=Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur |contribution=Gylfaginning |title=The Prose Edda |publisher=[[The American-Scandinavian Foundation]] |year=1916 |pages=69–70 |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre04.htm  }}</ref>  The ''Prose Edda'' provides the additional detail that while Thor was attempting to pull Jörmungandr in, his feet went through the bottom of the boat.<ref name="Gylfaginning"/>

Hymir is also portrayed in ''Hymiskviða'' as a [[jötunn]] and the father of the god [[Týr]]. Scholar [[John Lindow]] notes that this may be a unique situation in [[Norse mythology]], for if [[Loki]] also has a jötunn father, [[Fárbauti]], he is only "enumerated among the [[Æsir]]" as [[Snorri Sturluson]] puts it in ''[[Gylfaginning]]'', and thus not really part of their group.{{Sfn|Lindow|2001|pp=190, 208}}

===Picture stones===
This encounter between Thor and Jörmungandr seems to have been one of the most popular motifs in Norse art. Three [[picture stone]]s have been linked with the story and show Hymir: the [[Ardre image stones|Ardre VIII image stone]], the [[Hørdum stone]], and the [[Gosforth Cross]].<ref name="Sørensen">{{Cite book |last=Sørensen |first=Preben M. |others=Williams, Kirsten (trans.) |editor-last=Acker |editor-first=Paul |editor2-last=Larrington |editor2-first=Carolyne |contribution=Þorr's Fishing Expedition (Hymiskviða) |title=The Poetic Edda: Essays on Old Norse Mythology |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |pages=119–138 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j4bufbA_UpQC&pg=PP1 |isbn=0-8153-1660-7}} p. 122-123, 127-128.</ref> A stone slab that may be a portion of a second cross at Gosforth also shows a fishing scene using an ox head for bait.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fee |first1=Christopher R. |last2=Leeming |first2=David A. |title=Gods, Heroes, & Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |pages=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sFlLHEIuVlgC  |isbn=0-19-513479-6}}</ref> The legend is also depicted on the [[Altuna Runestone]], but its image does not show Hymir, possibly due to the narrow shape of that stone.

== References ==
<references/>

=== Bibliography ===

* {{Cite book|last=de Vries|first=Jan|title=Altnordisches Etymologisches Worterbuch|date=1962|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-05436-3|edition=1977|author-link=Jan de Vries (linguist)}}
* {{Cite book|last=Lindow|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KlT7tv3eMSwC|title=Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs|date=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-983969-8|language=en|author-link=John Lindow}}
* {{Cite book|last=Orchard|first=Andy|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofnors0000orch|title=Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend|date=1997|publisher=Cassell|isbn=978-0-304-34520-5|author-link=Andy Orchard|url-access=registration}}
{{Commons category|Hymir}}
{{Norse mythology}}

[[Category:Jötnar]]